Boone County Fairgrounds Could Get New Name

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COLUMBIA- Boone County Fairgrounds could be getting a new name, as discussed at a Boone County Commission meeting Tuesday morning.

The Boone County Commission proposed to switch up the name to Central Missouri Event Center, Home of the Boone County Fair to make it clear that the fairgrounds is an all-year event center that used for more than just the fair.

Proposals to rename the fairgrounds were originally brought up last year by the board, but no name stuck out. The board reached out to students in Boone County for names, but none of them were regionally focused, according to Boone County Commissioner Karen Miller.

The Boone County Fairgrounds name change was brought up at the Boone County Commission meeting for Boone County residents to voice their opinions Tuesday morning. John Samwilliamson , a lifelong Boone County resident, was the sole resident to speak up.

"I'm a long time supporter of the Boone County Fair and the fairgrounds. I like the new name," Samwilliamson said. "It discloses that it's a regional facility but it also preserves the historic name of the Boone County Fair."

Presiding Commissioner Daniel Atwill hopes the name change will bring more traffic to Boone County and to the fairgrounds.

"There are a lot of other things that occur there that need to be reflected somehow. We don't want everyone who comes here from out of state to think they're coming to a fair if it's not a fair event at the time," Atwill said. "We hope everyone understand that when we move into a broader audience we just need a little different monaker."

Boone County Fairgrounds Secretary Tracy Mulligan said the staff is working hard on cleaning up, painting, scrubbing and landscaping. She thinks the name change will have a positive impact on business.

"We're hoping to change perspectives on some things and hopefully draw some other people from across the country," Mulligan said. "When they see the event center, they're going to look and they're going to say, 'oh we can hold a flea market there, or an antique sale, or we can have an agricultural event. So we're hoping to expand our events."

The name change will be finalized on Tuesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. unless there is significant backlash that surfaces in the next week.